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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 116 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  3. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. He is an ace ________________.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  13. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  14. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  15. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  16. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  17. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  18. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  21. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  22. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  23. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. squash — the vegetable
  3. scale — for weighing
  4. shower — to wash
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. board — to get on
  7. shower — rain
  8. pitcher — in baseball
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. capital — a city
  12. chair — a leader
  13. squash — the sport
  14. scale — size or range
  15. chair — to sit on
  16. root — of a plant
  17. root — of a word
  18. board — a flat piece
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. root — the cause
  21. squash — to crush
  22. scale — in music
  23. board — a committee
  24. capital — money

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com